Our Tips for Around Europe This Weekend - 30/10/21

Lens travel to the Groupama Stadium this weekend to face a Lyon side who have been underperforming in the league this season. Lens have been on fine form during their first 11 games of the campaign, having won six, drawn three, and lost two, and currently sit second in the table with 21 points.

However, they remain seven points behind leaders PSG, who look to be running away with the league this year after being pipped to the top spot by Lille last season. Lyon are currently ninth in the league, five points behind Lens.

However, Lyon have won three out of their last four matches against their weekend opponent, with their most recent match in April ended in a 1-1 draw. Lens will be going into the match with confidence having defeated Metz 4-1 last week. Meanwhile, Lyon lost 3-2 away to Nice after Zimbabwean forward Tino Kadewere was sent off, leaving Nice to take advantage of the extra man and scoring twice in the last few minutes of the game.

Barcelona go into this weekend’s fixture without Ronald Koeman at the helm, as the Dutchman was sacked by the Blaugrana hierarchy after losing 1-0 to Real Vallecano during the week. This was Barcelona’s third defeat in La Liga this season, leaving them ninth in the league and nine points behind surprise leaders, Real Sociedad.

Alaves haven’t been firing on all cylinders either and currently sit in 16th place in the league, just one point clear of the bottom three. However, they are going into the game with some momentum having won their last two league outings, whilst Barcelona have lost their last two.

The 26-time La Liga champions have been struggling since the departure of Lionel Messi in the summer, despite them bringing in a number of attacking replacements. One of those replacements is former Manchester City striker, Sergio Aguero.

Aguero scored 184 goals in 275 league appearances for City, and he has netted just once for Barcelona in three appearances this season as he netted against Real Madrid in the El Clasico last week.

Jose Mourinho’s Roma face Stefano Pioli’s AC Milan at the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday, which will be the 32nd meeting between the two sides in Serie A

AC Milan are currently enjoying their best start to a season since 1954, having accumulated 28 points from a possible 30, sitting second place in the league behind leaders Napoli who are level on points, but lead the table as a result of their goals against tally.

Legendary striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic will be looking to add to his two league goals this season as he missed Milan’s last match against Torino where Oliver Giroud scored. The Swedish international is enjoying his second spell with Milan having scored 15 goals in 19 Serie A appearances last season and tends to play every other game. This is that game.

Union Berlin host Bayern Munich in what will be the fifth meeting between the two teams in the Bundesliga since Berlin’s promotion to the German top-flight in 2019. Bayern are top of the league with 22 points from their opening nine games but sit just one point clear of second place rivals Borussia Dortmund. Meanwhile, Berlin, who finished seventh in the Bundesliga last year, currently sit in an impressive fifth position in the table with 16 points from their first nine games of the 2021/2022 campaign.

Berlin are facing a Bayern side who have scored 60 goals in all competitions already this season, with Polish striker Robert Lewandowski scoring 17 of those, 10 of which have come in the Bundesliga. Julian Nagelsmann’s side will be hungry for a victory too, having been shut out in style by Borussia Monchengladbach in a humiliating 5-0 defeat for the Bavarians in the DFB-Pokal Cup midweek – their biggest loss since 1978.

Rangers visit Fir Park this weekend in the Scottish Premiership and Steven Gerrard’s side will be hoping to improve on their midweek 2-2 draw at home to Aberdeen.

The 55-time Scottish champions have had a shaky start to the season, having drawn three and lost one of their 11 games so far. However, the Ibrox outfit remain top of the league table, two points clear of city rivals Celtic.

Sixth place Motherwell also drew their midweek game 2-2 against 7th place St Mirren, and currently sit 9 points behind Rangers. The last two meetings between the sides both ended in a 1-1 draw, however, Rangers won 3-1 and 5-1 in their first two games against the Steelmen at the start of last season.

English-born Jamaican striker Kemar Roofe, who moved to Rangers from Belgian side Anderlecht in the summer of 2020, will be looking to add to his four league goals this season. Roofe, who scored the longest-range goal in Europa League history last season from 54.7 yards away, has enjoyed his spell with the Bears, scoring a total of 18 league goals in 34 appearances.